Underbabied, Underspermed: Unpacking MAHA's Maternal Healthcare Policies

What Is Period Poverty? We Talk With Period Equity Advocate Rakisha Kearns-White To Find Out

If you've ever been caught without a pad or tampon and felt that flash of panic, you already understand a small piece of what millions of people navigate every single day: period poverty. In this episode, Heather and Lisa sit down with period equity advocate Rakisha Kearns-White, who has spent the past seven years working to end menstrual stigma and provide accurate sexual health information in public spaces. With 37% of U.S. adults and 25% of students reporting that they've struggled to afford menstrual products, the numbers are striking. And as wages stagnate, social safety nets erode, and the cost of living climbs, it's getting even harder for people to afford the products they need so that they can access employment, education, and get on with their lives. Rakisha breaks down what period poverty and menstrual equity actually mean, how her advocacy grew out of a single moment at her library branch, why period stigma makes everything harder, and how anyone — regardless of gender — can get involved.  To help address period poverty, contact: • Rakisha Kearns-White at theperiodlibrarian@gmail.com [theperiodlibrarian@gmail.com] • Period, period.org [http://period.org/], a national organization with school and college chapters across the US that hosts period packing parties and advocacy events • Her Period Dignity, herperioddignity.co, [http://herperioddignity.co/] working to end period poverty and provide dignified access to menstrual products • Aunt Flow, goauntflow.com [http://goauntflow.com/], Columbus, Ohio-based organization fighting period poverty and stigma by providing free period products in schools and workplaces • Simply the Basics, simplythebasics.org [http://simplythebasics.org/], distributing menstrual products, diapers, and personal care items to people experiencing homelessness and low-income communities across the U.S. To help locally * Donate period products to your local food pantry, homeless shelter, or care box drives through scouting groups and religious organizations * Set up a free little pantry in your community stocked with menstrual products alongside other essentials * Sign petitions advocating for EBT/SNAP coverage of menstrual products Show Notes Period Poverty: Why Millions of Girls and Women Cannot Afford Their Periods, UN Women https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/period-poverty-why-millions-of-girls-and-women-cannot-afford-their-periods [https://www.unwomen.org/en/articles/explainer/period-poverty-why-millions-of-girls-and-women-cannot-afford-their-periods]   "Period Poverty Is On the Rise," findings from a study by Dignity Grows and the Period Poverty Institute of America  https://dignitygrows.org/period-poverty-in-the-u-s-is-on-the-rise-worsening-education-and-economic-outcomes/ [https://dignitygrows.org/period-poverty-in-the-u-s-is-on-the-rise-worsening-education-and-economic-outcomes/]   Women in the Workplace 2025, McKinsey  https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/women-in-the-workplace [https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/women-in-the-workplace]

Our Vanishing Vaginas: Vaginal Atrophy and Other Amazing Menopause Symptoms

Your vagina is changing, and nobody warned you. Heather and Lisa are here to give you the 411 on this 911 situation. In this episode, we're diving into vaginal atrophy — the condition affecting roughly 50% of perimenopausal and menopausal women, where tissues dry out, shrink, and generally stage a quiet revolt. Your clitoris can retract like a turtle. Your labia can disappear. Fun times! Heather and Lisa break down the symptoms you might not realize are connected to your hormones (like recurring UTIs, a vanished sex drive and spontaneous pants-peeing), and walk through treatment options — from estrogen patches to a fancy box of dilators. Listen up. Your vanishing vagina deserves better. Show Notes * "Vaginal Atrophy," Cleveland Clinic https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15500-vaginal-atrophy [https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15500-vaginal-atrophy] * "Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause" by Karen Carlson and Hao Nguyen, NIH https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559297/# [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK559297/] * "New Analysis of Women's Health Initiative Data Aims to 'Clear the Air' Over Menopausal Hormone Therapy" by Kate Schweitzer, JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2839211 [https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2839211] * "Hormonal Treatments and Vaginal Moisturizers for Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause: A Systematic Review" by Elisheva R. Danan et al., Annals of Internal Medicine, 2025 (includes research on Royal Jelly) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12333043/ [https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12333043/]

Underbabied, Underspermed: Unpacking MAHA's Maternal Healthcare Policies

Last week, President Trump gathered RFK Jr., Dr. Mehmet Oz, and a room full of pronatalists to push his fertility and maternal healthcare agenda — and hosts Heather and Lisa had a lot of feelings about it. Sure, they had a field day with Dr. Oz's declaration that one in three Americans are "underbabied" and RFK Jr.'s, er, passionate interest in teen sperm counts. (Yes, really.) But once the laughing died down, things got a lot more serious. In this episode, Heather and Lisa dig into the policy proposals that came out of that press conference — ones that could have genuinely dangerous consequences for maternal healthcare — and unpack the complicated, often misunderstood research behind declining birth rates in the U.S. and around the world.  Show Notes The following sources were consulted in preparation for this discussion: The Daily Show's segment on President Trump’s press conference on maternal healthcare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWF4XLGBEAU [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWF4XLGBEAU] Full Maternal Healthcare Press Conference https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-hosts-maternal-health-care-event/678967 [https://www.c-span.org/program/white-house-event/president-trump-hosts-maternal-health-care-event/678967] "Temporal Trends in Sperm Count," Levine et al., Human Reproductive Update, November 2022. https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article/29/2/157/6824414 [https://academic.oup.com/humupd/article/29/2/157/6824414?login=false] “710,000 Fewer Babies Were Born Last Year in U.S. Compared With Two Decades Ago” by Brian Mann, NPR https://www.npr.org/2026/04/09/nx-s1-5779627/birthrate-united-states-babies-immigration [https://www.npr.org/2026/04/09/nx-s1-5779627/birthrate-united-states-babies-immigration] “A Dangerous Shift in Maternal Health Policy” by Stephanie Psaki [https://time.com/author/stephanie-psaki/], Dara Kass [https://time.com/author/dara-kass/] and Elizabeth Tobin-Tyler [https://time.com/author/elizabeth-tobin-tyler/], Time https://time.com/article/2026/04/29/a-dangerous-shift-in-maternal-health-policy/ [https://time.com/article/2026/04/29/a-dangerous-shift-in-maternal-health-policy/] “No More Babies? Nobel Laureate’s Take On Fertility Decline” by Avivah Wittenberg-Cox [https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/], Forbes https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2025/06/16/no-more-babies-nobel-laureates-take-on-fertility-decline/ [https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/2025/06/16/no-more-babies-nobel-laureates-take-on-fertility-decline/] Babies and the Macroeconomy by Claudia Goldin https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w33311/w33311.pdf [https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w33311/w33311.pdf] Why So Few Births? Hoover Institution https://www.hoover.org/research/why-so-few-births [https://www.hoover.org/research/why-so-few-births] “Funding Cut for Landmark Study of Women's Health” by Rob Stein, NPR https://www.npr.org/2025/04/23/nx-s1-5372892/womens-health-initiative-research-funding-gets-cut [https://www.npr.org/2025/04/23/nx-s1-5372892/womens-health-initiative-research-funding-gets-cut] “What Happens to Health Research When 'Women' and 'Diversity' Are Banned Words?” by Shefali Luthra [https://19thnews.org/author/shefali-luthra] and Barbara Rodriguez [https://19thnews.org/author/barbara-rodriguez], The 19th/PBS https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/what-happens-to-health-research-when-women-and-diversity-are-banned-words [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/what-happens-to-health-research-when-women-and-diversity-are-banned-words] Documentary: “Liberty Lost”  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liberty-lost/id1815337795 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/liberty-lost/id1815337795] Documentary: “Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever” 2025 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf9e1o7rUeo [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf9e1o7rUeo] These organizations are working to increase women’s healthcare access: Women’s Healthcare Access Matters https://whamnow.org/ [https://whamnow.org/] The Guttmacher Institute https://www.guttmacher.org/ [https://www.guttmacher.org/] Center for Reproductive Rights https://reproductiverights.org/ [https://reproductiverights.org/]

Don't Be a Douche: The History of a Dangerous Hygiene Product

This week we discuss the medically unnecessary product women were taught they couldn’t live without: the douche. About 20% of U.S. women use disposable douche products for vaginal cleansing on a weekly basis. Far more have used them at least once. Yet medical experts say these "hygiene" products are unnecessary and can even be hazardous to your health. So why, despite decades of research linking douching to increased risk of vaginitis, UTI, and even cancer, do women continue to spend hundreds of millions of dollars a year on a product nearly every healthcare expert inists they don't need? We dive into the convoluted history of the modern-day disposable douche and a century's worth of marketing strategies designed to convince women that they ought to be ashamed of their "down there." Show Notes and Sources Consulted: During the recording of this episode Heather asked Lisa if there are warnings about cancer and other serious health risks like vaginitis on the packaging or marketing materials for douching products from companies like Summer’s Eve do contain warnings, but they do not explicitly convey the possible health risks from use or overuse. Instead they caution against douching more than twice a week, during pregnancy, as a form of contraception, or to treat STDs. Douching, Office of Women's Health  https://womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/douching [https://womenshealth.gov/a-z-topics/douching] “When Women Used Lysol as Birth Control,” by Nicole Pasulka, Mother Jones, March 2012  https://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/03/when-women-used-lysol-birth-control/ [https://www.motherjones.com/media/2012/03/when-women-used-lysol-birth-control/] “Why You Should Not Ever Need to Douche,” Cleveland Clinic, 2025 https://health.clevelandclinic.org/douche [https://health.clevelandclinic.org/douche] Devices and Desires: A History of Contraception in America by Andrea Tone, 2001 “Study Links Talc Use to Ovarian Cancer,” by Aria Bendix, NBC News https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/talc-baby-powder-linked-ovarian-cancer-jj-lawsuit-rcna152493 [https://www.nbcnews.com/health/cancer/talc-baby-powder-linked-ovarian-cancer-jj-lawsuit-rcna152493]

Another Bloody Book Club: Famesick by Lena Dunham

In our first ever installment of Another Bloody Book Club, Heather and Lisa dig into Famesick, Lena Dunham's raw and surprisingly funny memoir about the collision of ambition, chronic illness, and public life. They explore what the book reveals about the invisible toll of endometriosis, the pressure women face to keep showing up no matter how sick they are, and the particular loneliness of experiencing physical pain that no one can see from the outside. Along the way, they get personal — sharing their own experiences with hysterectomies, pain management, and what it really feels like when your body is altered forever. You can buy Lena Dunham's book Famesick from the following retailers: * Green Apple Books [https://bookshop.org/p/books/famesick-a-memoir-lena-dunham/051a699f988a479a?ean=9780593129326&next=t] * Penguin Random House [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/609917/famesick-by-lena-dunham/] * Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Famesick-Memoir-Lena-Dunham/dp/0593129326] * Barnes & Noble [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/famesick-lena-dunham/1147924472?irclickid=QMMw0O1JLxyPUaHVah1so20pUkuU1qVPFUVSVw0&sharedid=&irpid=256585&irgwc=1&afsrc=1] The following sources were referenced during this episode:  "Out for Blood: After Years of Medical Gaslighting, a Hysterectomy Set Me Free" by Heather O'Neill, Jenny https://jennymag.com/2024/02/07/endometriosis-hysterectomy-gaslighting/ [https://jennymag.com/2024/02/07/endometriosis-hysterectomy-gaslighting/] What Is EDS? The Ehlers-Danlos Society https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/  [https://www.ehlers-danlos.com/what-is-eds/] "Linking Stress and Inflammation to Chronic Disease," The Institute for Functional Medicine https://www.ifm.org/podcast/stress-inflammation-chronic-disease [https://www.ifm.org/podcast/stress-inflammation-chronic-disease] "Study Finds Women at Greater Risk of Depression, Anxiety After Hysterectomy," Mayo Clinic https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/study-finds-women-at-greater-risk-of-depression-anxiety-after-hysterectomy/ [https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/study-finds-women-at-greater-risk-of-depression-anxiety-after-hysterectomy/]